"Chloe Orost Dodo! I challenge you to a duel! If I win, you must break off your engagement with me!"
"..."
Something's wrong, absolutely wrong!
Roy stared blankly at the unrealistically beautiful blonde girl before him.
Looking at the genuine anger on her delicate and pretty face, Roy really wanted to send a "black guy with a question mark" emoji.
Not a girl, a duel? An engagement? Who? Me?
Have I accidentally wandered onto a movie set? That was the first thought that crossed Roy's mind.
But he immediately dismissed it, because he didn't see any cameras or crew members. Instead, he was surrounded by a group of boys and girls in gorgeous matching uniforms.
More importantly, the language the other party was using wasn't one he was familiar with, yet he could understand it, and even had a gut feeling that he could use it fluently if he spoke it himself…
Meanwhile, the group of teenagers was discussing this language, both familiar and unfamiliar to him—
"I knew Princess Shireen would be angry!"
"Who told that guy to bully Soros just because of his status? It's one thing if he acts like that normally, but this time he even broke his leg! Even a practical lesson would be a bit much…"
"This guy doesn't deserve Princess Shireen. I really don't know what His Majesty was thinking."
"To win over the Grand Duke of the North, huh…"
"…"
In fact, Roy wasn't completely confused about the situation. After all, he clearly remembered what had happened to him before he appeared here.
—He was playing a game when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest, his vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in this scene.
Although his mind was still incredibly confused, he had at least read some online novels.
If he wasn't mistaken, he had probably transmigrated.
The problem was, this scene felt strangely familiar, and the name of the girl in front of him, who seemed to be a princess…
"Chloe! Did you hear me?!"
Shirin's angry and dissatisfied voice snapped Roy out of his reverie, and the moment their eyes met, a flash of inspiration struck him.
He remembered…
The uniforms of these boys and girls, Princess Shirin, the Duke of the North, Chloe… weren't these things from the game he played before his sudden death?
The difference between the real scene and the cartoonish art style in the game was too great, leaving him momentarily stunned.
Now he finally realized that he seemed to have transmigrated into the game he was playing?
And what did Princess Shirin call him again?
Chloe?
Wasn't that a minor villainous boss from the early to mid-game?
What was this guy all about?
Roy frantically tried to recall any information about Chloe from the game. The third son of the Grand Duke of the North, he held a high position and possessed talent, though not exceptionally strong—not as capable as his two older brothers and sister, nor as good as his youngest sister—and was thus largely neglected at home.
His long-term oppressive environment fostered a cruel and capricious personality. While he initially showed some restraint at home, after the Emperor, to stabilize the North, betrothed his daughter, Princess Shireen, to him, he became completely arrogant, his infamy resounding throughout the capital.
Princess Shireen naturally looked down on such a despicable man. However, when faced with the fate of the Empire, personal will was useless, even for a princess.
She reluctantly accepted the engagement, but never once showed Chloe a kind word.
While Chloe didn't care about the princess's attitude towards her, she couldn't tolerate him flirting with a commoner who had only recently gained admission—and that commoner was, of course, the protagonist of the game, the one whose leg she had broken, the one the crowd had previously mentioned.
This is what happened at the end of the first act of the game, while the timeline he traveled to was at the beginning of the second act, where the princess, to avenge the protagonist, challenged her fiancé to a duel.
Roy remembered that in the original game, Chloe yielded, agreeing to apologize to Soros and offer excessive compensation, which finally persuaded Princess Shireen to drop the duel.
However, while Chloe outwardly apologized and yielded, his insecure yet arrogant heart was deeply humiliated. He then joined forces with a villainous organization to kidnap the princess, intending to force himself on her, only to be rescued by the protagonist's group… After a series of delightful hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress moments, the villains were killed, and the protagonist gained the princess's favor—
Good news: a villain got his just desserts.
Bad news: he's now that villain…
What to do? Waiting online is urgent.
Roy—or rather, Chloe—was brainstorming, but in Shireen's eyes, he was simply silent.
The princess's anger showed no sign of abating: "Chloe, even if you remain silent, things won't change. You either accept my oath-bound duel and wait for the engagement to be annulled..."
She paused, ultimately considering her status, offering the pre-set escape route: "Or, apologize and compensate Soros!"
"I choose the duel." The moment her thoughts were cleared, Chloe made her choice.
This engagement had to be annulled. They weren't on the same path. Since her transmigration into Chloe was a foregone conclusion, if she, the villain, wanted to survive, she had to sever ties with the protagonist group as soon as possible.
Having played the game to its later stages, she knew what these people would go through.
They could live a life of luxury with their protagonist's halo, but if a ripple from the story killed her, she'd be finished!
However, he gave Princess Shirin what she seemed to want more, and Shirin herself was stunned.
"...What?" She seemed not to have heard clearly, or perhaps she couldn't believe what she had heard.
Offering him a second option was meant to give him a way out, and she anticipated that this cowardly bully would take it. She had imagined his anger, his excuses, even his pleading, but she hadn't expected him to choose what seemed like a dead end.
"I said I accept your duel," Chloe repeated.
"Splash—!"
As cold water poured into boiling oil, an uproar erupted instantly. The students watching were filled with astonishment and disbelief, and their whispers suddenly grew louder.
"Has he gone mad?"
"He actually dares to accept Princess Shireen's duel?"
"Isn't he afraid of death? Her Highness is a near-King level Grand Mage!"
"This is going to be good..."
Princess Shireen's beautiful eyes narrowed instantly, churning with offended anger and a hint of barely perceptible astonishment.
She stared intently at Chloe, as if trying to re-evaluate this fiancé she had always considered incompetent and cowardly.
However, Chloe met her gaze without flinching.
Finally, Shireen forced out a few words through clenched teeth:
"Fine! Very well!"
She took a sharp step forward, her expression icy and furious: "Three days later, in the dueling arena, Chloe Orost Dodor, I hope you... won't regret this!"
Before the words were even finished, she had already turned abruptly, her dazzling golden hair drawing a resolute arc in the air. Without another glance at Chloe, she walked away without looking back as the crowd parted to make way for her.